As one who grew up on video games and fantasy novels, and spent a good portion of my life addicted to them, I feel I can offer something to this discussion.

Personally, it is my view that cartoon media is neither a hindrance nor a help to spiritual progress. While the portrayal of metaphysics is almost always wildly inaccurate, and some may find it misleading...I think, as others have mentioned, that the true seeker will find a way despite this. That is not to say that cartoon media does not present traps and pitfalls, but anything in life can be a pitfall or a trap.

My experience with video games started very early, around the age of four. My parents got a Nintendo (the original), and from that point on I was hooked. I also loved reading from an early age, and my favorite genre was fantasy, although sci-fi had a special place in my heart too. I was always fascinated by magic in cartoon media and I believe that this did help provide motivation for pursuing spiritual growth. However, my gaming was an addiction, and I did pay a price for that. My ability to concentrate has suffered as a result (ADD like a mofo, yo), and I wasted a lot of time on entertainment that could have been spent much more wisely.

When it comes to dismissing spirituality/metaphysics as a result of overexposure to the fantastic portrayals of the aforementioned subjects, this was somewhat of an issue for me. However, I attribute this more directly to my psychological state than to cartoon media. I was addicted to escapism...I did not like my life, and wanted very much to live in one of those magical worlds, to be one of those magical characters. I did not feel special or important, and felt that if I lived in one of those fantasy worlds my life might actually have some meaning or purpose. And so I lived vicariously through the media, wishing and desiring to be in a world other than my own, where magical things happened. Cartoon media was my way of feeding the need to escape...I'm sure that without it, I would have simply found another thing to lose myself in and escape to.

Today, I rarely play video games, and rarely read anything that isn't related to my work or my spiritual interests. I'm still working on the core psychological issues that drove the addiction to escapism, and I do still deal with a very strong skepticism when it comes to metaphysics. But there's more to that story than just cartoon media, and I think the context in which that media is experienced is an extremely important variable when determining whether it does more harm than good as a form of entertainment.